Our game seems to have terrible issues with loss of tracking in SteamVR, but we are having a tough time pinning it down. The HMD seems to lose tracking and rotate or occasionally shut off, controllers seem to jump everywhere, and occasionally the floor loses height throughout the play experience. Commercial games running on this Vive don’t seem to share the same issues.
Has anyone had an experience like this that could point me in the right direction?
Hi sandworm
short version: remove or eliminate reflective surfaces.
long version:
I had this in some of the locations I set up the Vive in and it was caused by smooth, reflective surfaces.
Mirrors are the worst and I used to cover mine when using the Vive - but it can be caused by something as simple as a clear plastic box near the basestation. Or maybe even a window.
I just read somewhere that the overhead fluorescent light fitting had reflectors which also caused tracking problems.
The issue arises because the basestation’s LEDs can get reflected in the reflective surface.
One way to test is to darken the room as much as you can (you might have to wait for night time), turn off all the lights - and then turn on the Vive camera. Look around the room with the camera and you should see the glowing bulbs inside the basestations, which is normal.
THE CHECK: But now, look for reflected images of those bulbs in reflective surfaces. These will be tricking the HMD into using these reflections as their reference points.
Hope this helps
yinch